To use a baseball metaphor: The Avengers' ball was stuck in the ivy. They could have crawled home. But instead, as they rounded third, they sped up to a jog just to show everyone that they mean business.

The Avengers passed $1.5 billion in worldwide box office gross, after re-opening in 1700 American theaters this Labor Day weekend. The film grossed an estimated $1.7 million this weekend, bringing its total up to $1,501,845,000. Well played, Marvel. Well played.

The milestone comes just a few weeks before The Avengers Blu-ray hits shelves, which is sure to bring in another nice chunk of change for the blockbuster film that took the summer by storm.

Despite all its success, however, The Avengers remains the third highest-grossing film of all time. It will likely never be able to catch up to the two Jim Cameron films that top that list (at least without the benefit of some kind of 6-dimensional re-release in 2032): Titanic at $2.19 billion, and Avatar at $2.78 billion.